Read a Tigers Kids Excerpt

Read Psalm 95:1-7.

Let us bow down and kneel in worship before our God.

Auburn’s Heisman-Trophy winner Pat Sullivan challenged head coach Shug Jordan once. But only once.

As a sophomore in 1969, Sullivan quarterbacked the Tigers to an 8-2 record. His brief life as a rebel occurred in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Trailing Houston, the Tigers faced fourth-and-one at their own 35. Jordan called for a punt and sent the kicker into the game. Sullivan sent him back to the sideline and called a play. Auburn didn’t make it.

Jordan called Sullivan over when he came off the field. Calmly, he put an arm around his star’s shoulder. He pointed out that he must have misunderstood, that he had wanted the team to punt. “Yes, sir, but I felt we should go for it,” Sullivan answered.

The coach’s attitude changed. Angrily, he told Sullivan to go to the bench and not get up until the game was over. Even the quarterback who would be named the best player in the country couldn’t challenge the coach. On Shug Jordan’s teams, there was only one boss, and he was it.

Let’s face it. As a kid, just about everybody is your boss. Your parents, your teacher, your babysitter, your coaches, even older brothers and sisters. You have to do what they tell you to. You have to be obedient. If you aren’t, you are in line for some serious punishment.

It’s the same way with God. Like a big boss, he demands obedience from you. He wants you to live the way he tells you to in the Bible. If you’re disobedient to God, what happens is that your life gets into one great big mess.

It isn’t easy being obedient, even to God. But the blessings he gives you are worth it.

Think of three times you didn’t do what you were told to. What happened?